Launch 25 th May 2007, Royal Society of Edinburgh SAGES Scottish Alliance for Geoscience,...
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Transcript of Launch 25 th May 2007, Royal Society of Edinburgh SAGES Scottish Alliance for Geoscience,...
Launch25th May 2007, Royal Society of Edinburgh
SAGES Scottish Alliance for Geoscience, Environment & Society
Theme 2: the carbon cycleJohn Grace: University of Edinburgh
Iain Young: University of Abertay
SAGES Theme 2: Terrestrial Carbon CycleT
hem
e 2
Statement of Problem:
we see an unprecedented increase in greenhouse gases
and
these gases cause warming of the planet
but
we need new knowledge and understanding to find solutions
SAGES Theme 2: Terrestrial Carbon CycleT
hem
e 2
6.51-2
Annual increase 3 Gt
Land sink 1-3
Ocean sink about 2
6.51-2
Atmosphere: +3
Carbon Budget in the 1990’s
(Billions tonnes C y-1; Royal Society Report, 2001)
Fossil fuels, cement 6.4 0.4
Land use change (mainly tropical deforestation)
1.7 0.8
Increase in atmospheric
CO2
3.2 0.1
Ocean uptake1.7 0.5
Tropical biospheric sink
1.9 1.3
Temperate and boreal biospheric
sink1.3 0.9
Q1 Where are the carbon sources and sinks?
SAGES Theme 2: Terrestrial Carbon Cycle
Q2 How stable is the soil carbon?
Th
em
e 2
y = 0.1294e0.2656x
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
3-yr-old CF
7 yr
12 yr
20 yr
30 yr
40 yr
new CF
Expon. (40 yr)
y = 0.3448e0.1291x
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
CF
yr 10
yr 32
yr 52
yr 82
yr 90
Expon.(yr 32)
Temperature (degrees Celsius)
So
il C
O2
flu
x (μ
mo
l m
-2 s
-1) UK
Finland
Perhaps the terrestrial sink will become a source
SAGES Theme 2: Terrestrial Carbon CycleT
hem
e 2
Export from land to river to ocean is under-researched
SAGES Theme 2: Terrestrial Carbon Cycle
Q5 Can we monitor the carbon cycle?
Th
em
e 2
Roedenbeck et al 2003 Units: gC/m2/year
CO2 exchange between land surface and atmosphere- the toolkit
Hyperspectral remote sensing of land use
Flux sensor
Eco-dimona aircraft
Tall tower, Angus
Fluxnet
physiology
Earth Observatory
SAGES Theme 2: Terrestrial Carbon CycleT
hem
e 2
Observe processes at small spatial and temporal scales, what are they, how do they behave?
Observe fluxes at large scales
models
SAGES Theme 2: Terrestrial Carbon CycleT
hem
e 2
• All terrestrial life depends on it– Soil ecosystem services
are valued in excess of £100 Trillion p.a.
• We are wasting it– >18% reduction in
organic matter in UK since 1985
– 2.2M Tonnes lost to erosion each year in UK
– Globally, at current loss rates, there is about 200 years of productive topsoil left
POST report, July 2006Env. Agency 2004 report
Soil: a vulnerable part of the C-Soil: a vulnerable part of the C-cycle: cycle: Hard-to-access, teeming with Hard-to-access, teeming with life: more individual organisms in a life: more individual organisms in a handful of fertile soil, than the total handful of fertile soil, than the total number of human beings that have number of human beings that have ever lived. ever lived.
SAGES Theme 2: Terrestrial Carbon CycleT
hem
e 2
There literally can be billions of individualorganisms in a relatively small area.
1g of soil = c. 20m2
In 1 g of soil we have:
c. 10,000 protozoa 7 x 10-6 m2
c. 107 bacteria 4 x 10-6 m2
c. 5 km fungi 1 x 10-4 m2
5.5 x 105.5 x 10-5-5%% of the total space is covered
SAGES Theme 2: Terrestrial Carbon CycleT
hem
e 2
Also we’ll work in in our own back-yard•Expect land use will change
•Expect climate change impact
•Farming and forestry will change: carbon forestry?
•Nature conservation issues
•Biofuels likely to have a role
SAGES Theme 2: Terrestrial Carbon CycleT
hem
e 2
• NERC-CTCD (soon NCEO)
• Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management
• International Polar Year
• FLUXNET
• Forestry Commission/Forest Research
• DEFRA
• NERC-CEH
• Scottish Crops Research Institute
• SUERC
•NERC-TROBIT
•Carboeurope-IP and IMECC
•ABACUS
•Carbonfusion
•FLUXNET
•IGBP-AIMES
Some of our Affiliations & sponsors
Current projects